After a quick shower in the Physical Training Area's female locker room, Sona changed from her gym clothes into more casual attire and joined me as we walked together down the hallway.
We arrived at a door labelled [Field Area] and, after briefly scanning our faces and eyes like before, entered what appeared to be a wide, grassy plains―way bigger than the Physical Training Area.
Like a field you might find 400 metres up, the place we now are is a field of verdant green and rolling hills.
A place you might find in a countryside on the surface.
A cerulean sky with not a cloud in sight and the warm rays of the fiery sun pouring down―this was not the kind of scene you would expect to find so deep underground, but it was present here nonetheless.
Needless to say, none of it was real.
More precisely, it was all a life-like illusion.
This soft grass beneath our feet; the warmth of the sun's rays; the gentle breeze as it rustled across our skin and through our hair―it was all fake.
As I half-mentioned previously, we possess advanced technology. Technology capable of feats such as replicating the conditions of nature and the outside world even 400 metres below the surface.
It has a natural day-night cycle too, so as to not confuse one's circadian rhythm.
It wasn't even all that advanced, to be honest.
The hardest thing about it was to create such an authentic illusion that it was real, not the conditions itself. If all you wanted was to make a place with realistic wind and sun rays, but didn't care about the authenticity of the illusion, then it was so easy that almost anyone with a little bit of money could do it.
Like I said, if you woke up here and weren't told that it was fake, then you wouldn't realise until after you tried to leave, and even then, it would take a while to settle in and fully comprehend.
And, in the centre of this field, stood a young girl atop a hill.
Her eyes closed, she appeared focused.
Slowly, she waved her hands through the open space around her, and an updraft of warm air began to blow her long hair gently upwards. Consequently, the air near the ground surrounding her rapidly cooled as all the heated air rose.
Sana.
Unlike her twin sister Sona, this girl's primary Supernatural Ability was of the non-physical kind.
She didn't have much of an opportunity to show it off during the two versus one with Avon Laura, due to the unfortunate matchup forcing her to take a step back during the whole ordeal, but that didn't take away from Sana's true power one bit.
In fact, it only allowed me the chance to show her off separately.
The twins should each have their own, equal terms on which to show off, don't you think?
Against Avon Laura, Sona had her time to shine, and I do indeed say that she fulfilled that role magnificently, but the heroine of next time's performance will be Sana―I had already decided as much and looked forward to it, but until then, she continued her training properly.
"Sana," I called. Lowering her arms and opening her eyes, she looked blankly at me, then at Sona beside me.
As she did so, I felt the surrounding temperature gradually return to its original state, the surrounding winds settling as a result.
I gestured for her to come and she approached us at the bottom of the hill, following which I gave her the same treatment as Sona and put a hand on her head and a well-deserved praise.
"Good job with training. Before I begin with the main topic for today, shall we move location?"
They looked at each other, then back to me and nodded, and so we collectively made our way out the door of the Field Area, down the hallway and into the lift, then back up to the ground floor, Floor 0, and into the house's living room.
All without exchanging so much as a word.
Now then.
We all took a seat and, facing the twins, I spoke.
"I've made you two wait long enough, haven't I? It's time for me to fulfil what I promised during the Fighting Festival."
How much they were looking forward to this moment.
How much they really wanted what they wanted.
―The answer to these questions would be answered by their actions from this point forth.
"What do you wish for, the both of you? You get one wish each, and it can be practically anything. Take as much time as you need."
Of course, I wouldn't let them wish for something that would go against my own plans, but so long as it is something that doesn't interfere with what I want to do, then I really mean it when I say 'anything'.
However.
Wealth.
Power.
Fame.
These are three things the twins already possess, and it is all thanks to me.
They are also things that any normal person might very well die for, and yet I have given them to the twins, absolutely free of charge.
However, that only made it more interesting―what the decision of their wish will be.
Ordinarily, it might have taken a person an eternity to make a choice. If you can wish for anything―that is, anything I can feasibly give you―there are innumerable things one can ask for.
Aside from the big three of wealth, power and fame, what else might someone want?
――Knowledge.
If there is one thing in the world I can guarantee, it is that knowledge is power.
With the right assortment of knowledge, one is capable of anything.
You only need to take one glance at my life to realise that much.
If I have granted you a wish, and you can ask for anything, what would you ask for?
Any answer to any question.
Something personal? Something philosophical?
Would you confirm the winning lottery numbers for the next national, or maybe the winning sports team in the next big competition?
Would you like to know the truth of an obscure event that happened long in the past?
Would you like to know how that one regret of yours might have turned out, were you to have acted differently?
Would you confirm your religious beliefs?
Would you confirm how your deceased loved ones were doing in the afterlife, or perhaps the truth of if there even was an afterlife in the first place?
The vast majority of people simply do not understand that there are quite literally infinite questions to ask.
But.
Only one answer can be given.
They cannot quite comprehend it. If one asks a single question and receives a satisfactory answer―will they not then want to ask a second question?
A second, possibly bigger, and juicier question?
In the current sense, this is not the case. However, for an alternate scenario, what would happen?
If a second question can be asked, then why not a third? Then a fourth, a fifth, and so on.
If that is allowed to occur, then at that critical moment, humanity's greed for knowledge―their lust for power; their fatal curiosity―will strike.
It is the same dilemma that a certain group of individuals ran into years ago; one that presumably ended in misery.
I say 'presumably' because, well, I don't actually know.
Unfortunately, you see, I don't know any more than that because it's related to the reason my memories of how I escaped the Wardens' facility are gone.
It was then that the twins spoke.
""...Our first wish is that you won't abandon us.""
Contrary to my initial beliefs, they came to a decision far quicker than I had anticipated.
They must have been thinking of what their wish would be for quite a while.
Not only that, but it wasn't wealth, power, fame, nor knowledge that they wished for.
Well, could you say that they want the knowledge that I won't abandon them? They want it to be a fact, set in stone and forever true.
I nodded.
"Of course. I was going to do that already."
Suddenly, though, the girls shook their heads.
""You don't mean that.""
I was taken by surprise. Before I could respond, they continued.
"You say it..."
"...But, you don't mean it."
I stared at the two for a few seconds, a moment of silence passing between us.
""...We want you to mean it. Our wish.""
"Don't abandon us..."
"...Never. If you do..."
""―You would have broken the promise.""
"..."
Wish 1 of 2:
Don't abandon the twins.
"...I see. Well. If I was going to break the wish, I never would have offered you it in the first place, would I? What reason could there possibly be for me to abandon you guys in the first place, huh? I would never do such an idiotic thing."
They both seemed to calm down at my words, their chests retracting deeply as they sighed in relief.
Abandonment was probably a huge deal to them, so the possibility of me leaving the twins to be alone was something they wanted to avoid at all costs.
"The second wish?"
Prompting them, I was certain they already had it in mind.
And it appeared I was right.
""...Our second wish..."
I waited for their answer, but the instant the girls opened their mouths, I was hit by a sensation of déjà vu.
""We want to know your name. What to call you. Something with meaning.""
"It has to be your real name..."
"...A fake name is not allowed."
They adamantly demanded so, their faces almost causing me to laugh.
Name... huh.
For some reason, the topic keeps popping up recently.
What's with that?
"..."
Real name. Real name...
""...Don't try to come up with something that isn't true...""
They said so, but I wasn't coming up with anything.
Honestly.
I was just thinking.
A real name. MY real name.
It wasn't given to me by my parents. In fact, I've never even met them, seen them, or heard of them.
But, a name.
A name.
That's right.
...My name...
"Cipher."
―I have one.
==========
(Volume 1 END)